Australian Gambling Reform Bill Faces Cross-Party Push to Ban Betting Inducements

^{Australia’s Parliament House in Canberra, where the Interactive Gambling Amendment (Gambling Reform) Bill 2026 is before the House of Representatives. (Photo: Kgbo / Wikimedia Commons)}

Australia’s proposed overhaul of gambling advertising is facing a cross-party push to go further and rein in betting inducements, after a two-day Senate inquiry exposed gaps in the government’s reform bill. The Coalition and the Greens have both argued that the legislation, as drafted, leaves the most harmful marketing tactics untouched, echoing the government's earlier climbdown on a full advertising ban.

At the centre of the fight is the Interactive Gambling Amendment (Gambling Reform) Bill 2026, a government bill introduced in the House of Representatives on 2 July 2026 and still before the lower house. Ministers have presented it as the biggest tightening of Australian gambling rules in years, but the opposition says it is riddled with loopholes.

What the Bill Would Change

According to the bill’s summary on the Australian Parliament website, it would amend the Interactive Gambling Act 2001 to set new restrictions on wagering advertising, including a ban on betting ads during live sport coverage and requirements for online services to stop excluded users receiving advertising. It would also expand the national self-exclusion register known as BetStop, prohibit online keno and foreign matched lotteries, and place obligations on financial institutions to block payments to illegal offshore operators.

Coalition Targets Betting Inducements

The Coalition says the package ignores the inducements, such as bonus bets and other incentives, that critics blame for driving heavy losses. In a statement issued on 5 August 2026 after the Senate inquiry, shadow communications minister Senator Sarah Henderson said the bill fails to address predatory offers aimed at high-risk gamblers and confirmed the opposition would seek amendments.

‘The bill ignores gambling inducements which are causing immeasurable harm to some Australians. There is mounting evidence legislative action is required to combat predatory inducements which target high risk or vulnerable gamblers,’ Henderson said.

Her statement pointed to inquiry testimony from former rugby league player Luke Bateman, who described being targeted by VIP account managers with bonus bets and other inducements. The Coalition also raised concerns that the bill could permit gambling ads during breaks in online live-sport streams and weaken advertising limits introduced in 2018, and said it would not support the legislation in its current form. You can read the full detail in Henderson’s media release.

Greens Want a Wider Crackdown

The Greens are pressing from the other side of the debate, arguing the government should adopt the total advertising ban recommended by the 2023 Murphy review and clamp down on online promotion and inducements. That leaves communications minister Anika Wells needing support from either the opposition or the Greens to pass the bill through the Senate, a dynamic that mirrors where public opinion sits on tighter gambling rules.

The bill remains before the House of Representatives, and any inducement controls would depend on amendments being negotiated as it moves toward the Senate. For an industry already adjusting to other recent moves to tighten online gambling, the outcome will shape how betting companies can market to Australian customers for years to come.